Can-making machine



w. L. RUTKQWSK] May 19, 1925.

CAN MAKING MACHINE Filed March 10, I922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 m wwmfi?W/7L7'Ef? L. HUT/40 w: H I,

May 19, 1925.

W. L. RUTKOWSKI CAN MAKING MACHINE Filed Mar h 10, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2May 19, 1925. 1,538,841

W. L. RUTKOWSKI CAN MAKING MACHINE Filed March 10, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 5W %7 yrronwsy.

May 19, 1925.

w. L. RuTKowsKl CAN MAKING MAcHiNE Filed Mar h 10, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Patented May 19, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER, I1. RU'TKOWSKI, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIG-NOR TO B. 0. CANCOMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION.

CAN 1VIAKII\TG MACHINE.

Application filed March 10, 1922. Serial No. 542,721.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVAL'rnn L. RU'rKow- SKI, residing at i318 ForestPark Boulevard, in the city of St. Louis and State of M- souri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Making Machines, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same. Myinvention relates to improvements in can making machines and moreparticularly to machines for ending, or, securing metallic bottoms andtops to can bodies.

My object is to provide a machine of simple construction, for endingcans, whose product is uniform and accomplished with a minimum of wastein material and with a minimum of manual effort.

My invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement andcombination of elements as hereinafter fully, clearly and conciselydescribed, definitely pointed out in my claims and illustrated by theaccompanying drawings, in Which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a machineembodying my improvement for simple, single tool, crimping can ends tocan bodies.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a plan view, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 and on an enlargedscale, showing in detail the means for actuating the crimping rolls ortools.

Fig. 1 is a transverse, sectional elevation of the means for actuatingthe crimping rolls, or tools as related to the means for holding the canbody and can end.

Fig. 5, shows a fragment of a can body and a can end and the crimp onthe can end as formed by a tool of which only a'fragment is shown.

Fig. 6 is a detail, plan, view showing means for squaring or truing thecrimping chuck, or end holding means.

Fig. 7 shows in side elevation a machine, of the same general design asshown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which there are distinct sets of crimpingrools, or tools, for step crimping and means for timing the tool action.

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the relation of the two sets of tools andtheir actuating means.

Fig. 9 is a sectional plan view as taken on the line indicated 9-9 ofFig. 7.

F 10 is a rear elevation of the actuating means shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11. shows a fragment of a can body and can end as held and formedby the initial tools, and

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11 showing the can end as formed bythe final tools.

ieferring to the drawings, 15 designates the frame of the machine asshown in Figs. 1 to 6, comprising a sleeve bearing 16 in which isslidably mounted a spindle 17 which carries at its upper end a spindleplate 18 and which plate constitutes the supporting and holding meansfor the can bodies to be acted upon. The plate 18 is arranged formovements to different altitudinal planes, that is from can supplyingand removing position to crimping position and to this end there isprovided a lever 19 having a pivotal connection 20 with the recitedspindle ].7 and a pivotal support 21, as best shown in Fig. 2. A secondlever, 22, connected by means such as the rod 28, with an actuatingpedal 24, is pivotally mounted on the recited support 21 and acts uponthe lever 19 through a compensating spring 25, and the plate 18 with itsactuating levers and pedal are normally held to can supplying andremoving position by means such as a spring 26. A sleeve bearing 27 iscarried by the machine frame above and in alinement, vertically with thesleeve bearing 16 for the spindle 17, and extended through the bearing27 is a shaft 28 at the lower end of which is fixed the crimping chuck29.

The shaft 28, (chuck shaft) is extended through a third bearing 30 andis capable of vertical adjustment relative to the spindle plate 18, forvarying depths of can ends, by

means of the clamp-collars 31 and 32, surrounding the shaft 28, at thetop of the bearing 30.

Where the can bodies and their ends are of non-circular section itbecomes necessary that the crimping chuck 29 precisely registers withthe path defining means for the crimping tools, as will hereinafter bemade clear, hence I provide a furcated'extension 33 for the collar 31,carrying opposing set screws 34k and 35 arranged to bear against andbottom an abutment 36 carried at the top of the machine frame.

Obviously upon a manipulation of the set scr ws '34 and 35 the chuckshaft 28 may be rotatably adjusted, without vertical disturbance andconsequently the chuck 29 brought and held as properly adjusted or set.

Extended through the sleeve bearing 27, surrounding the chuck shaft 28is a sleeve 37 which is rotated about the shaft 28 through bevel gears38 and 39 by means of the pulley 4O driven as by a belt from a source ofpower not shown. As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the sleeve 37 isprovided with foot flanges 41 to which are pivotaliv mounted a pair ofarms 42 which carry the crimping tools 43, each of which comprises anannulus or groove 44 whose sectional contour is shaped to form thedesired crimp of the normally flat flange 45 of the can end (as shown inFig. 4 to the shape oi the finished crimp 46 shown in Fig.

In Fig. 4 I show the tools as held by means such as the springs 47, totheir n on-fun.ction ing positions and assuspended, from their carryingarms 42, by pins 48.

For the movement of the tools, or rolls -18, to functioning, or crimpingposition I provide a cone 49, surrounding each pin 48 and a cam 50comprising a bevel face for engagement with the cones 49, which cam iscontoured to correspond with the margin of the can end to be acted uponby the crimping rolls.

As best shown in Fig. 4 the cam 50 is arranged to move thecriinpingtools to crimp, ing positions, against the tension of thesprings 47, upon being moved downwardly over the cones 49, and for suchmovement of the cam I provide a slide-block 5 1, sup.- ported by themachine frame 15, arranged for actuation by the recited pedal 24 througha rod 52 and a lever 53.

The direct support for the cam is, prefer ably, a yoke, such as 54,which is fixed to the slide block 51 and detachahly connected with thecam as by means such as the screws 55.

Th operation of the mnchine'is as follows Assuming the cam 50 to be inits elevated position; the crimping rolls 43 springrheld to noncrimpingpositions; the crimping chuck 29 properly positioned and fixed; thespindle-plate 18 in its dropped or supplying and removing position, acan body is placed upon the spindle-plate 18, and can end loosely placedover the open, top, end of the can body and assuming further that thecrimping rolls 43 are moving through paths defined by the cam 50, theoperator depresses the pedal 24 and the machine auto-,

matically f mctions to secure or crimp the can end to the can body.

Through rod 23, lever 22, compensating spring 25, lever 19 and spindle17 the spindle plate 18 is elevated to bring the can end to the plane ofthe crimping rolls, (as shown in Fig. 4) and through rod 52, slide-block51, and yoke 54 the cam 50 is dropped to cause its bevel face to forcethe crimping rolls 43, through the cones 49, to engage and act upon theflange 45 of the can end.

Upon a release of the pedal, the cam 50 is elevated to permit thecrimping rolls to move outwardly through springs 47 and the spindleplate 18 is dropped to ren'ioving and supplying position.

I prefer that the connection between the spindle l7 and lever 19 con'prises means such as the clamp collar whereby the spindle 17 andconsequently the can support or plate 18 may be adjusted for adaptationto can bodies of varying heights.

In the form of machine shown in Figs. T to 12, inclusive, I haveprovided distinct sets, or pairs, of crimping tools for progressive orstep action upon the can ends and automatic means for timing theduration of the crimping action. In this form of inachine the sleeve 37,which is identically like the described sleeve 37 in the form of machineshown in Figs. 1 t 6, is PlOVlClQtl with a plurality of pairs of footflanges 41 for the pivotal support of spring actuated arms 42 arrangedto carry pins 48 for suspend ing crimping rolls 43 and 43 The set ofrolls 43 as best shown in Fig. 11, act on the flange of the can end toform the initial roll or crimp and the set of rolls 43 act on the rollor crimp to form the finished flat crimp as shown in Fig.

For selective movement of the rolls 43 and 43 to functioning positionsthe pins :18 carrying the rolls 43 are provided with cones 49 incliningdownwardly and outwardly and the pins 48 carrying the rolls 43 areprovided with cones 49" inclining inwardly and downwardly. Thesedifferently disposed cones are acted upon by a can; having a pair ofbevel faces, one of which engages the cones 4 and th other engages thecones 49 The care 50 is carried on a yoke like the described yoke 54 andthe yoke carried on a slide block like the described block 51.

In this form of machine the crimping chuck 29, is in all particularssimilar to the described crimping chuck; likewise the means for bodilyrotating the crimping tools is similar and the spindle-plate 18 and itselevating pedal 24 are similar.

In the described machine the pedal 24 was held by the operator duringthe crimping interval while in this form of machine the pedal depressionserves merely to elevate the spindle-plate to crii'i' ping position andto initiate the movement of automatic means for holding thespindle-plate to crim 'iing position; timing the action oi the crimpingtools and restoring all the functioning elements to normal or startingpositions.

Such automatic means I prefer to be of a type as shown, including arock-lever 60, pivotally supported by the machine frame 15, as by a bolt61, as shown in Figs. 7 and 9, pivotally connected with the slide-blockand carrying at its end, opposite the slide block a roller such as 62,for engagement in slotted cam-wheel 63.

For the rotation of the camwheel there is provided a power driven shaft64, having a worm gear connection with the shaft 65, supporting thecam-wheel 63 which gear is controlled by a clutch 66, connected for adtuation to clutching position by a rod 67 secured to the pedal 24.

On the shaft 65 supporting the cam wheel 63 is'a second cam vheel 68, inwhose pe riphery there is formed a dwell 69, arranged for coaction witha roller 70, bellcrank 71 and rod 72 to hold the pedal 24 elevatedduring the crimping interval and hence the clutch 66 to in clutchposition for the rotation of the cam wheel 63 to move the cam 50, first,to bring the initial tools d3 to functioning positions then the tools 43to functioning positions, during which interval the cam wheel 68 andbell crank 71, hold the pedal depressed, and consequently the clutch 66in clutch and the cams 63 and 68 connected with power for their cycle ofoperation as determined by the movement of the dwell 69.

In both forms of machines illustrated, the can end is backed by thecrimping chuck t0 the end that the paper can body is relieved from alltorsional strains resultant from the actions of the crimping tools,thereby obviating one source of annoyance incident to other machines forthis purpose.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the class described, a support for a can and can end,a crimping tool, means for bodily rotating the tool around the supportedcan and can end, a lever for supporting the tool, a cone carried by theaxis of the tool, an open ringshaped element having an inclined innersurface for engagement with said cone and means for moving theringshaped element to eifect movement of the tool in a crimpingdirection.

2. In a machine of the class described a support for a can and can end,a lever, a crimping tool carried by said lever, a cone carried by theaxis of the tool, a ring shaped element shaped to define the path of thetool and having oppositely disposed faces for engagement with said cone,mean-s forbodily rotating the tool and means for bodily moving the ringshaped element to effect movement of the tool to crimping ornon-crimping position.

3. In a machine of the class described, a crimping tool, means forrevolving the tool in a fixed plane, a support for a can and can end,means for varying the plane of the support relative to the plane of thetool, a holding and backing element for the can end fixed in the planeof the tool, an element carried by the axis of the tool, an elementhaving a surface shaped to define the path of and surrounding the axisthereof, means for bodily moving said path defining element to effectmovement of the tool to crimping position, and a spring for returningthe tool to non-crimping position.

WALTER L. RUTKOVVSKI.

